Sunita Williams, 8 other astronauts named by NASA for first manned US space launch since 2011

Rupali Pruthi

Aug 6, 2018 20:45 IST

Sunita Williams, 8 other astronauts named by NASA for first manned US space launch since 2011

Sunita Williams, 8 other astronauts named by NASA for first manned US space launch since 2011

The US space agency NASA on August 3, 2018 introduced to the world the crew of nine astronauts who will fly on American-made spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS) from the US soil for the first time since the space shuttle’s retirement in 2011.

The astronauts will be carried from American soil onboard spacecraft developed by entrepreneur Elon Musk's SpaceX and Boeing Co to the ISS, beginning in 2019. These astronauts will first crew the test flights and then the missions involving both Boeing's CST-100 Starliner and SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft.

Astronauts named for Boeing's CST-100 Starliner Test Flight

Eric Boe

Christopher Ferguson

Nicole Aunapu Mann

Boeing’s Starliner will launch aboard a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

Josh Cassada will fly with Sunita Williams aboard NASA’s first contracted Starliner mission. It will be Cassada’s first spaceflight. Williams had previously logged 321 days in orbit on two stays aboard the ISS and most recently, returned to the Earth in 2012.

Astronauts named for Crew Dragon First Mission

Victor Glover

Michael Hopkins

Victor Glover and Michael Hopkins will fly on the first operational mission of SpaceX’s crewed Dragon. It will be Glover’s first time in space. Hopkins had logged 166 days aboard the space station in 2014.

NASA’s Commercial Crew Program

NASA’s Commercial Crew Program aims to facilitate the development of US commercial crew space transportation capability with the goal of achieving safe, reliable and cost-effective access to and from the International Space Station and low-Earth orbit.

The public-private partnerships fostered by the program will stimulate growth in a robust commercial space industry and spark life-changing innovations for future generations.

Boeing’s and SpaceX’s commercial spacecraft test flight will open the ISS to more privately-funded visitors and spaceflight participants from countries that do not have their own domestic crewed spacecraft and rockets.

Both the vehicles were developed in cooperation with NASA to deliver crew members to and from the orbiting laboratory.